Hopi Mission School dedicates new gym

KYKOTSMOVI VILLAGE, AZ. - Asked if they believe in miracles, Hopi Mission School students and staff will say "Yes!"

After more than 30 years of dreaming, the school now has a gymnasium to provide an indoor recreation area for its students. On the high desert of the Hopi reservation, about 90 miles northeast of Flagstaff, all the school had outdoors was a concrete slab for basketball or a sandy area for other sports and activities and indoors a cramped, makeshift area in the school's cafeteria-at least until now.

On November 7, nearly 300 people, including current students and other children, gathered in the new gym for a program of celebration and dedication. Participants included some of the volunteers who had helped construct the building, former principals and teachers, representatives of churches that had provided funds, individual donors, family members of current students, tribal and village government officials and other friends. The students performed a dance routine, sang several songs and recited memorized Scripture verses.

Following the dedication, the Hopi Mission school PTO made and served Hopi Tacos and watermelon to the entire crowd. The celebration was enjoyed by eveyone in attendance

How the gym was built is a remarkable story in itself.

Hopi Mission School was founded in 1951 as an outgrowth of General Conference Mennonite Church mission work that began in 1893. At that time, volunteers constructed a building that provided basic facilities for grades K-8. About 25 years later, a second building with space for a kitchen, cafeteria, chapel, library and additional classrooms went up.

In its early years, fully supported missionaries staffed the school. More recently, a number of long-term volunteers have given up to five or more years to teach, do administration and serve as support staff, many of them assigned through Mennonite Voluntary Service.

The American Baptist Churches USA became a sponsoring partner over 20 years ago, with support also coming from congregations affiliated with other denominational groups. The money they provided covered the cost of operations but was not sufficient for a building as large as a gymnasium. Subsidy support from both the Mennonite and Baptist denominations has ended, but congregations and individuals have continued to send funds for operations.
The Hopi Mission School Foundation was formed six years ago to provide long-term financial support for the school. Foundation staff in collaboration with the Hopi Mission School board, made up of representatives of Christian churches on the reservation, determined that building a gymnasium was a high priority.

Jim Yoder of Newton, Kan., a skilled builder and contractor, agreed to serve as the general contractor for the project, after having come to the school for several two-week volunteer assignments doing maintenance and repair projects. Yoder drew the plans and developed the detailed specifications for the gym, with the Hopi Mission School Foundation responsible to raise the funds.

Assuming all volunteer labor except for the contract for the basic steel structure and roof, the original cost estimate for a 60' x 120' building was $100,000. The escalating cost of steel and other construction materials in the past few years pushed the steel contract alone to about $105,000, meaning the original estimate had to be doubled.

Bill Zuercher, a volunteer fund raiser from Hesston, Kan., accepted the challenge of contacting dozens of churches and individuals, traveling all the way to the East Coast and all points in between, as well as up the West Coast. These and other contacts produced enough money to cover the majority of the cost.

At the time it was dedicated, the new gym was 90% complete and already usable. Although some additional funds are needed to finish the project, the building is nearly paid for. Operating funds will still be needed as the gymnasium will require a larger utility budget.

In December 2004 and again in March 2005, a professional concrete crew from South Dakota came to pour the foundation footers, floor and sidewalks, donating labor and providing materials at cost. Soon after the steel framework and roof were installed last February, five masons and helpers from Pennsylvania and three from Kansas laid 4,000 concrete blocks in less than four days.

Yoder scheduled other volunteers from then into the summer and fall to enclose the building, frame the walls, build an entryway, install drywall, do the electrical and plumbing work, paint and complete other essential tasks. Church youth groups from Massachusetts, Kansas, Arizona and Oklahoma gave time and energy.

The dedication program on November 7 recognized and celebrated the contribution of all these individuals and groups. The people gathered agreed that the gym project represents a labor of love and goodwill. The beautiful and functional building that resulted will serve generations of students from an area accustomed to getting by without many of the advantages that most people in Arizona and the rest of the country take for granted.